One Winter Storm
by LovelySilversky
Summary: Uhh. An old Chelsea x Vaughn fic I wrote... forever and ever ago. It's... so bad... D:


**Please note that I wrote this **_**ages ago**_** and it's **_**nowhere near**_** as good as my other stories. I had a continuation planned, but… Oh god, I hate this so much. I REALLY don't want to continue it.**

-

Chelsea walked casually over the frozen fields, admiring the way they glittered in the moonlight as new flakes of snow drifted down, eager to cover the ground in their each unique glimmer.

A few minutes later, though, the short walk was over and Chelsea was walking through the doors to her animal barn, checking on her cows before she headed to bed.

The younger of the two, Mint, eagerly came up to greet her, and just like every other day, Chelsea gently stroked her behind her ears and told her she was beautiful.

Chelsea let her gaze drift to the back of the barn where the older cow, Moon, was laying down on her side, swatting flies away with her tail.

Recognizing this as unusual behavior for the cow, Chelsea rushed to the back of the barn to see what was the matter, Mint trailing slowly behind her. As Chelsea approached, Moon let out a "moo," but it sounded hollow and lifeless.

Chelsea sat down next to the cow, gently stroking her fur. "Oh, Moon… you're sick, aren't you? Just wait here, alright? I'll run out and get you some medicine."

She gave Moon a few more strokes and quickly dashed out of the barn and through the frozen fields, hoping to get to Mirabelle's before she closed up for the night.

As Chelsea ran through town, she noticed the weather getting worse and worse. AT first, the snow became thicker and she could barely see where she was putting her feet. Then the wind picked up and almost knocked the girl over.

She made it eventually, though, prying the front door and turning to close it once she'd entered, only to realize that the storm had already done that for her.

Chelsea took a deep breath and turned around to see three pairs of eyes practically glued to her: Mirabelle's, Vaughn's, and Julia's.

"…Wh-what?" she asked after a minute or two of silence.

"The storm…" Mirabelle said. "It's much too dangerous to be out right now…"

"O-oh well uh… I need so animal medicine, so…" Chelsea trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Well," Mirabelle replied, grabbing a bottle of medicine off of the shelf and handing it to the farmer. "Here's the medicine, but you should stay here for the night. It'll be safer that way."

"But…" Chelsea tried to argue. "Moon… she really needs the medicine. Wh-what if she…" the girl trailed off with a sniffle, wiping her nose on the back of her hand.

"Oh, Chelsea! I-I'm sure she'll be fine…" Julia comforted, giving her friend a quick hug.

I-I guess…" Chelsea muttered with a voice full of doubt, her head hung.

"Come on, cheer up!" Julia said cheerily, clasping her hands together. "Vaughn and I were just about to watch a movie. You'll watch it with us, right?"

Chelsea sighed. "I guess…" she set the medicine onto the shop's counter before following Julia into a backroom, sitting next to Julia on the couch. Vaughn followed after them a few moments later, sitting down next to Chelsea on her other side.

Julia picked up a remote from the side table and clicked a few buttons, turning on the TV and starting the movie. It was basically a parody on the Princess and the Pea, and Chelsea recognized it as the movie Julia had borrowed from Elliot a few days back. Shortly after the opening credits, Julia got up and left the room, muttering an excuse about wanting some popcorn.

After she'd left, Chelsea felt herself start to shiver, realizing just how cold the storm had made the house. She let out a shaky breath, rubbing her hands together to generate heat.

"Your hands cold?" Vaughn's asked, startling Chelsea and making her jump a bit.

"Oh, y-yeah… a-a little…" she stuttered, trying not to blush in embarrassment.

Vaughn chuckled at her, which only caused Chelsea's face to redden, and then reached into his pocket, pulling out a pair of fingerless gloves, identical to the pair he was wearing. "Here," he said, handing them to the girl. "It's my spare pair, but I guess you can have them."

"Oh, ummm… Th-thanks…" Chelsea muttered shyly, slipping on the gloves and refusing to look Vaughn in the eyes.

Vaughn shrugged. "Welcome."

Chelsea sighed. This was about as deep as conversations ever got with Vaughn. Chelsea wanted so much to have _one_ meaningful conversation with him, but…

She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she started sniffling again. She hated crying in front of Vaughn. Hated it more than anything, but she couldn't help it.

Vaughn sighed. He was silent for a moment or two after that, as if thinking about what to do, and then he reached over and embraced the farmer in a tight hug.

"V-Vaughn?" Chelsea asked, wiping away a few tears as she struggled to stop her sobbing.

"Listen Chelsea," Vaughn whispered in a caring voice that Chelsea was quite shocked to hear coming from him. "I'm… really sorry…"

The two just sat there like that for a moment of silence or two. No one spoke until Vaughn let go of Chelsea, awkwardly averting his gaze as he spoke again. "I know I don't really… talk a lot, but I… well…" he sighed before continuing. "I guess there's just something about me that turns people away. And I guess I've… become real antisocial because of that."

"Well maybe… maybe people would talk to you if you just… smiled every so often…" Chelsea murmured, face flushed and eyes practically glued to the ground.

Vaughn blushed as well. "Wh-why?... I-I don't need to smile to… do my job…"

"No, but… It's nice to smile every once in a while. It makes people around you happy a-and…" Chelsea took a deep breath, looking up to face Vaughn with a determined glimmer in her blue eyes. "I-I'd really like to see you smile, you know…"

"R-Really?" Vaughn stuttered, his face crimson red at this point.

Chelsea nodded.

Footsteps could be heard as Julia entered the room, and the two quickly turned back to the movie, attempting to hide their flushed faces from their friend as she sat next to them, cradling a bowl of popcorn.

She had a smile on her face, as if she had heard every word of Chelsea's and Vaughn's conversation, and knowing her, she probably had. "So, what'd I miss?" she asked.

Chelsea, who hadn't been paying any attention to the movie whatsoever, opened her mouth to speak, but drew a blank. (Although Chelsea had a feeling that Julia wasn't talking about the movie at all.)

Vaughn shrugged. "Not much. Just some character introductions, really. Nothing too important."

Chelsea smiled a quick "thanks" to Vaughn, who replied with a nod and a slight grin, and turned back to the movie.

-

At some point amidst the ending scenes of the movie, Vaughn felt a slight weight fall against his shoulder and looked over to see that Chelsea had fallen asleep on his shoulder. His gaze softened at the sight of her like that, and he tried to stay still for the rest of the movie, not wanting her to wake up.

After the credits had rolled, Vaughn was feeling pretty tired himself, and he probably would have fallen asleep a few moments later if Julia hadn't piped up.

"Vaughn, you still awake?" she asked, moving from Chelsea's left to his right.

"What- uhh, yeah..." He muttered sleepily in response.

"So, you have a good time with Chelsea tonight?" Julia giggled, nodding her head towards the girl sleeping on Vaughn's shoulder.

Vaughn sighed, annoyed that Julia was always bugging him about the farmer. "It was… alright, I guess." He muttered, pulling down his hat to try to hide a blush.

"Just alright?" Julia asked with a grin. "Now, if I've been paying attention, that's Vaughn for 'pretty good', right?"

Vaughn let out a nervous chuckle. "Okay, so it was actually really nice…"

"Aww, Vaughn! Are you blushing?" Julia teased. She was obviously loving this.

"J-Just don't mention this to Chelsea."

Julia sighed, her moment of glee now gone. "Well why not? She obviously really likes you and you-

"I know…" Vaughn sighed. "But she's just too distracting. I have a _job_ to do, Julia. And I'm behind as it is, you know?"

"Yeah, and so does everyone else, Vaughn!" Julia pouted. "Elliot and I find time for each other! And Chelsea finds time for you!"

"I-I know, but-

"Why is Chelsea wearing your spare gloves, Vaughn?" Julia interrupted in an almost demanding manor, crossing her arms.

"Her… her hands were cold…"

"And why is she asleep on your shoulder?"

"W-well she just fell asleep there and I-I didn't want to wake her…"

"And why-

"I get it, alright?" Vaughn sighed.

"Then why don't you just open up to her?" Julia practically pleaded. "Tell her how you feel!"

"I don't know…" Vaughn muttered, absent mindedly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a blue feather, clutching it as he spoke.

"Just give it to her, Vaughn! Propose!" Julia exclaimed, continuing in a softer tone. "She'll accept in a heartbeat, and she'll be the happiest girl on the island…"

"I can't. Not yet." Vaughn sighed, looking up at Julia. "Thank you. I-I… I really did have a good time tonight."

"It was my pleasure." Julia said with a smile, motioning towards Chelsea before continuing. "So what are you going to do about…"

Vaughn shrugged. "I don't really want to move here, so I guess I'll just… stay here and try to fall asleep."

Julia giggled. "She's gonna be really happy when she wakes up, you know."

Vaughn grinned, tucking the feather away in his pocket. "Yeah, I know."

"Well, goodnight, Vaughn," Julia said with a smile, getting up and turning off the lights before she left the room.

"You too, Julia. And thanks again…" Vaughn whispered once she had left, leaning his head against Chelsea's and falling asleep beside her only minutes later.


End file.
